Trials and Tribulations
by Timeless Wings
Summary: Matthias has lived all his life in Winterland, never knowing what he was going to be in the future. Apparently, that isn't a problem because something else is in store for him. More precisely? Being a king. Seasonal!Verse - Gradual DenNor - More pairings to come


_I never really expected myself to get far in life._

_Of course, I love dreamin' and reachin' for the stars, but I never really thought I'd amount to much. I don't hate myself, don't get me wrong; I just didn't know what I was even going to strive for in the first place. Apparently, I didn't even have to make tha' decision, because I was born with an important one anyway._

_Was it important that I take on the task? Of course!_

_Did I like the task in the first place? Possibly. It was like a war inside me; I wanted to be at the top of the world, but I didn't want to leave what was so comforting, so familiar._

_Here's my story. It's not a special one, but a lot of people think so._

* * *

Wheelin' my bike out of the side fence, I hopped onto it and started pedalin' for my life. I wasn't gettin' chased, no; it was just a regular thing for me to go as fast as I could on my bike. Was a good day, too. Lotta people were out an' about, bustlin' through the shops to purchase goods and produce. Cycling past a few of my friends, I waved a quick greeting before headin' on my way to the meadow near the Seasonal Forest.

Even though everyone knows the Seasonal Meadow, few rarely come and check it out. It's not scary at all; no theories or ancient hauntings are connected to it. People just simply have too much to do. For that, 'm grateful. Since a few months ago when the sun was unbearably beatin' down our backs, I decided to check this place out. Glad I did. Beautiful place; good for thinking, musing, dreaming.

I'm here today because I need to think, think about my future, my odds in getting drafted into the military if there ever was a war. There is much unrest in both kingdoms of Winterland with the long-dead dead queen and the recen death of the king. The side I live in (North) is with a weak and new ruler, too. If this keeps on, South will definitely try and join both kingdoms into one.

Years back, when Winterland and Summerland were neat the end of the war over the control of seasons, another war broke out in Winterland. A civil war. Without the king and queen even knowing it, the advisor and ace of Winterland were teamin' up to overthrow the ranks to rule over Winterland completely. Quickly choosing sides, the people of Winterland started fighting, right after declaring a hasty and quick truce with Summerland. I wasn't born then, but Grandmother said it was brutal. Her brother fought for the South while she stayed up North.

Only a few years of fighting, and Winterland was already suffering from it. Resources were scarce and there was none to plow the fields, for most of the men and women were fightin'. Seeing that further battles could corrupt the whole of Winterland, the strongest leaders on both sides had an important meeting. The North was represented by the newly coronated Queen Astrid, while King Mikhail stood for the South. After hours and hours of heated debate in the throne room, a verdict was settled. Winterland will be divided in half. There will be separate rulers for each half and will treat each other like a different kingdom is treated.

Instead of four, there was five.

Trouble's brewing again, though. With Queen Astrid and her husband, King Bernard, finally dying of old age, South Winterland is preparing to join the two sides. The past few days 've been interesting; Queen Astrid's second cousin's nephew, Lukas, has recently taken the throne. His brother Emil is still quite too young for his coronation, and King Lukas can't stand alone. Someone must stand with him to protect the kingdom. Believe it or not, most of the kingdoms are more likely to wage war on another with only one ruler than two.

Queen Astrid has an interesting history, too. Married to King Bernard, the two had their first child, It was also during the year that in all of the kingdoms, a child was scarce. There were multiple death threats on the child, and he was finally stolen. Grandmother told me of it too, a search through all five kingdoms, with a hefty reward on who could find the missing prince. He was never found, and she stopped trying to have chidren, in fear of making the same mistake twice. Instead, she started focusing on any and all relatives of her own. Anyone who was in her family tree was invited to live in the castle, and of course, who can refuse?

Despite having every single family member living in the castle, the only children that were conceived in her family were Lukas and Emil. It was a long distance in her family tree, but nevertheless she loved them like she would've loved her lost son.

I can't help but say this, even if it is quite rude. But, what if her son was still alive? Odds of that are one to more than a billion, so that's outta the question, but what if? The kingdom wouldn't be worrying about war once more, and that would be quite nice to me.

I wasn't there to think about the kingdom's problems only. Of course, like all, I have my own petty problems. Example? Even though the Yuletide Dance is not until a couple of moths, who'll be the lucky person at my side? Who's datin' who? Why are they even datin' in the first place? What will I even do after school? These thoughts keep me i the meadow, though I barely stand still or contemplate on a rock.

I run down the slope in the meadow and up another one. I let the strong breeze knock me down, my body rollin' down the next slope. I'm not that far from civilization, but I laugh as if I'm the only person who can hear. Finally ceasing my rolling but still with a snicker, I crawled over to one of the flowerbeds and flopped on m' back. Once comfortable, I let out a great, big yawn, stretchin'out my bones before springin' up again to jog to nowhere in particular.

Can't keep still, that's me. I get to the part where a few trees are spread out near the edges of Seasonal Forest, but I dare not enter. I'm not a good directions kida guyand I'm worryin' that I'll somehow find my way to Springtown or some other kingdom. Though' there is a good spot near the sides of the woods where a whole bunch o' willow trees encirle a good patch of land and small boulders, which surprisingly are good for sittin'. I don't feel like goin' that way today though, since my legs are itchin' to run, but I don't. It was already gettin' dark out and I'll still have a way to run and cycle back home. As much as my legs like to think they're invincible, they're not, and I run back to my bike.

* * *

Out of breath, I opened the door, in fear of being late to dinner. Thankfully, my mother was only settin' the dishes.

"Matthias, where were ya?" she asked, putting the last plate down.

I sighed, walking in and closing the door behind me. "I was just at the meadow, Mor."

"It's quite late. Be sure to come home a tad bit earlier…" she said softly, a smile on her face. "But nevermind that, come help set the table!"

I obliged, walking over to the cupboard and getting out the utensils and cups. Satisfied, my mother goes off to call the others to the dinnertable as I finish settin' everything.

Everyone starts to pour in the room as I ladle the stew into a big bowl. Nodding graciously, my mother takes the ladle and bowl away so I can wash my hands and sit down as well. Dinner's a big thing in my family, since everyone's so busy. It's the only time we all ever get to sit down an' talk about our days. Father's a blacksmith, Mother's a scholar, Grandmother tends to the garden in her spare time, Blake, 22, is followin' Ma's footsteps and is becomin' a scholar, and little Damien, 14, is still in school. I am too, but I graduate in two weeks. Good birthday present too, since that's when I turn 19.

We're discussin' exactly that when there's a knock at the door. Damien rushes to the door and opens it, all smiles as always. "Hello, sir! Why are you at our home?"

The 'sir' at the doorway looked around, then stared at all us at the dinnertable. "Are you the Verselises?"

Mother and Father stood upquickly, then strode over to the door, quickly realizing that the man at our doorstep is a guard at the palace. Not just any guard too. Berwald Oxenstierna, the ace, was standin' on our doorstep.

"Yes," Mother gulped, stealing a quick, terrified glance at Father, "we are the Versiles family."

Clearing his throat, the ace declared, "Matthias Versalis, come forth."

In a quarter of a nanosecond, all heads whipped to face me. I swallowed that growin' lump of dread in my throat and shakily stood up from my place at the table. Trying to walk over, looking as regular as possible, I stopped next to Father. "I'm Matthias Versalis."

Giving a small nod, Berwald said, "Matthias Versalis, you are to hereby drop your surname and live at the palace, for royal blood runs in your veins."

* * *

_Hello, hello! _

_I used to be Nordics Need Love, but I am now Timeless Wings. It's nice to be back in FanFiction, getting into the old routine. I miss you all! For anyone, new, hello! Hope you enjoy your stay!_

_Yes, this is a new thing I am working on. New verse, new story, new set of stories. Haha, it'll be great._

_I'm sorry for anyone patioently waiting for my other stories, those will have to stay in hiatus mode for quite a time. My deep apologies go out to you all. Proud to say that I've got new material. My profile has all the edits with my progress, so you can check up on that if you want. _

_Now, leave a review or a follow? It would be very appreciated!_

_~Timeless Wings - Ree_


End file.
